Keeper Revisited
by Shadowesque13
Summary: My Brother's Keeper alternate ending. What if Jazz had died?
1. Chapter 1

Keeper Revisited  
by Shadowesque13   
Summary: "My Brother's Keeper" alternate ending. What if Jazz had died?   
Rating: PG-13 for major angst, character death, and rather gory descriptions   
Genre: Angst/Drama  
Dis: I don't own Danny Phantom, or else MBK woulda had a lot more angst to it. It belongs to Nick and Butch Hartman, the master of making great cartoons.   
A/N: Thank my friend Zyalea for wanting me to put in the gory description of Jazz. I wasn't planning on it, but I loved the way I wrote it out, so... I thank her for contributing! (and early apologies to WormmonABC...)  
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Chapter 1  
  
"And when that last domino falls, eliminating the speaker, I'll leave you here to take the blame. And when I'm done with you, you'll be sure it was all your fault!" cackled the demonic black form known as Spectra. Her grip on Danny tightened, not about to give him any chance to save the day. 

"I've just about had it with you dumping on me!" shouted Danny, rage building as he watched the dominoes fall one on top of the next, closer to the button that would initiate the lasers, killing Jazz at the podium. He squirmed and writhed in her grasp, unable to summon the strength to break free of the doctor's vice-like grip. So he did the next best thing; he reached around for the Thermos, holding her little assistant. After a few tries, he was able to grasp it and pulled it around from his back to his chest, pointing it toward Spectra. "So I think it's time to join your partner in crime!"

Fear flashed across her face as she let go of the hybrid, suddenly flying in a different direction. Danny tumbled a few feet before floating back up, aiming the Thermos. A bright light shot out of the device, flying forward.

He missed.

Spectra had vanished through a wall, narrowly avoiding being caught in the pulling force of the Thermos. Danny turned it off, growling. "Where are you?" He looked back through the window. "Oh no...Jazz!"

He went invisible, intangible, blasting at high speed toward his sister. He would be just in time, but he would make it. Only a few dominoes left... He felt a jerk on his leg, stopping him from going any farther. Looking back, he saw Spectra, holding his leg, pulling him back. "Oh no, you don't!" he cried, grabbing the Thermos once more.

But Spectra had seen this coming. Speed like a bullet, she knocked it out of his hands. It clattered to the floor, but that was nothing compared to the sound of the beams charging up. A red glow began to fill the room. "No! Jazz!"

"It's too late, boy! The girl is history! And there's nothing you can do!" She used this moment to relocate her hands from his leg back to his shoulders once more. "Nothing but watch as she's vaporized in front of your eyes!"

He struggled more. It was useless. He called out to her, hoping she'd hear, hoping she'd move out of the way in time. "Jazz! Jazz, get out of there!" She merely glanced in their general direction and shrugged. She hadn't heard. And moments later, she wasn't able to.

A collective gasp, more half-hearted due to Spectra's previous work, filled the room when two fiery red beams of destruction connected with Jazz's body. She didn't even have time to scream. Only a few seconds after it started, all that was left was her badly burnt body lying on the stage. Nobody moved for the span of at least a minute.

"Well now, time to complete my plan, shall we?" Spectra whispered in Danny's ear, phasing them out a door into a hallway right outside the gym.  
  
Danny didn't even blink. He had just witnessed the death—no, the murder of his sister. His bright, happy, helpful, older sister...gone. Just like that. No, it couldn't be. It just couldn't be.

Spectra set him down right outside the doors they went through. She turned back into her Human form and gave a small snicker and smirk. Danny stood and shook his head. What was he doing just standing around for? He had to get help! Two bold, familiar rings enveloped his body and was regular Fenton in a matter of seconds. He was about to push the doors open, about to go in to see when Mr. Lancer ran into him.

"Oh, Daniel, thank god I ran into you! Something terrible happened! I was just on my way to call an ambulance..." He stopped and stared at Danny. "Wait, what are you doing out here? Everyone's supposed to be in the gym."

"I...I..." He faltered. He had to think of some excuse. That's when Spectra began to speak, cutting him off.

"I caught Danny sneaking around here," she began, a fake look of concern on her face.

Lancer peered at him suspiciously. "You're the only one besides Miss Spectra here who wasn't in the gym. Why?"

Spectra, once more, answered for him. "I think he's been here the whole time, skipping the Spirit-A-Thon."

"More than that, I think he may have something to do with this devious plot."  
  
"What?" Danny was shocked. He knew what Spectra was doing now. Nobody would believe him; he was just a kid. Spectra was the only one who wasn't in the gym with him. Who were they bound to believe? "I didn't do anything! I'm innocent! I was just on my way from the bathroom when I heard something!" he made up quickly. "Why would I want to kill my own sister?"  
  
"I believe you were furious at her for the past few days, Mr. Fenton..." Lancer ran off again, glaring slightly at Danny. "I'm going to call 911. You make sure everyone else is alright and keep this one out of any trouble."

She waved him off and, when he had turned the corner, turned back to Danny. "And now, boy, I'll go convince everyone that you did this. You weren't here the whole time, and everyone knows you hated her all this week. You'll get all the blame! And I'll keep looking fabulous! Since Virtent is out of the way, I can have all this misery to myself!" She grabbed him by the arm and skipped inside the gym in that overly peppy façade she put on. Immediately, any wrinkles that had appeared on her face were gone in an instant. The mood was worse than ever, the gym filled with shocked and saddened looking people. "Come now, students!" she ordered in a cheerful voice. "Let's file out of this room outside. Come on, that's it." The students of Casper High complied, walking slowly out of the gym straight outside where minutes later an ambulance would park.

While she kept a firm grip on Danny's wrist, he managed to catch a glimpse of the corpse that was Jazz. There was no doubt in his mind that she was dead. He didn't want to believe it, and yet it was right in front of him, undeniable. The dominoes, the large red button, the "sparklers", the crisp podium, and Jazz.  
  
Her burnt and blackened skin left a smell like that of charcoal. A small bit of smoke emanated from the body. Her hair which had been a few shades lighter than red had been shortened and darkened, sticking up all over the place.  
  
Her eyes were wide, staring, unblinking. They were mostly rolled back into her head, but a glint of her once beautiful blue eyes was still seen.  
  
There were random spots all over her body that had erupted into cuts, bleeding, dripping slowly onto the stage. It formed a small pool, making a contrast between the black and gray that her form had become and the bright red surrounding it.  
  
Her clothes had practically melted and now stuck to the charred flakes that was her fair skin, epidermal layer scorched away, leaving what had to be at least 2nd degree burns all over. He didn't even want to know what it must have felt like. If she could have even registered the immense pain before her demise.  
  
His only sibling had been murdered in front of him, and now he was the one to get blamed for it when the true villain was standing right next to him.  
  
Spectra had managed to drag him away, outside with the others. Crying, sobbing, staring blankly as if still trying to understand what had happened. She reveled in the misery and angst, letting his arm go momentarily. He grabbed the nearest trash can and vomited violently.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks once more for the reviews! This chap has a bit of language in it, so there's another reason for it to be PG-13. Well, don't expect the 3rd chap for a while. It's gonna be way longer than either of these two. So now, I leave you to read.

Chapter 2  
  
Danny had watched through watery eyes as the ambulance pulled up and the paramedics, after a few minutes in the gym, slowly wheeled the body back on a stretcher, white sheet obscuring it from view. He had also seen the police vehicle pull up nearby and the officers residing within go inside.  
So now he sat in Mr. Lancer's office, waiting as the police officers talked to Lancer and Spectra, and soon enough, him. Questioning and suspecting, interrogating him. Spectra was no doubt telling them a few lies and then they would probably, evidence be damned, blame him anyway. That was her plan all along, right? He sat, head hung, with nothing but his thoughts and slight murmuring beyond the walls and door to keep him company. Spectra, that witch, her eyes still had a frightening gleam in them; her red hair sticking up like devil horns; her misery-induced beauty still shown without a wrinkle since the incident. Perhaps she was right. Perhaps there was so much angst that she was to be beauteous forever. Again, that had been her plan.  
Nothing but his thoughts and his own misery. If only he had been faster. If only he hadn't spent so much time dealing with Spectra and Virtrent. If only Spectra hadn't ambushed him. If only Jazz was still around... Spectra didn't need to do anything, he knew it was his fault.  
He mentally slapped himself. He couldn't think such thoughts. That would just be giving in to that demon with shades. It wasn't his fault at all. He would've been able to save Jazz had Spectra not grabbed hold of him. It was her fault. And he was determined to keep that statement true in his mind, no matter what she did to him. It was convincing everyone else of that fact that would prove far more challenging...  
The door opened. "Daniel Fenton?" asked one of the officers in blue.  
He nodded grimly. "Yeah, that's me."  
"We'd like to ask you a few questions."  
"Huh, imagine that..." he sarcastically muttered to himself.  
  
Everyone was in his or her home, most already asleep by now. Danny had been released after talking to the police. The journey home was miserable as he dragged his feet and stared at the ground. Getting home was a mess, since they had already contacted his parents. They immediately began to hug the living daylights out of him while crying about Jazz. He had, thankfully, broken away from then and fled to his room, where he sat ever since. On the way, he had spotted Jazz's room. He wanted to go in, to hope that she would be sitting on her bed, reading one of her many psychology books. So that he could talk to her, knowing that she, in her wisdom, would know what he should do and feel. He sprinted into his room as soon as he felt the inevitable salty moisture form, begging to finally flow.   
Danny sat in his bed, door locked so his grieving parents wouldn't barge in. The dark night sky was cloudless, revealing a bright moon. It's light illuminated a portion of the floor while the rest was covered by a dense shroud of shadow and darkness. His body, with legs hanging limply off the edge of the bed, was concealed. He silently wiped the long-held tears that spilled from his eye sockets away with a finger. He wasn't sure what to think anymore; he wasn't sure he could think anymore. His mind had been so overloaded as of late with remorse, realization, hatred, a thirst for vengeance.  
Why couldn't he save her? What if he had done something different? What if he had warned her beforehand? Why her? Why the hell couldn't it have been him? He would gladly take her place if he could. Too bad he didn't have control of time... He shook his head. No sense dwelling on the past. It can't be changed. He couldn't keep running these 'if only's through his head. They would only weaken his resolve. And he knew he couldn't let Spectra win. There had to be a way to stop her. Right now, there was nothing to be done. School had been declared cancelled for the rest of the week, maybe longer depending on how long the investigators examined the crime scene. Perhaps there was some other way to go fight her...  
He pushed the thought from mind as it tired him. He couldn't concentrate on much. All of this pain inside, all of this frustration and misery, it had to stay hidden. It had to, or else there would be no hope for anyone to overcome her power. Only now, locked safely inside the confines of his own room did he feel safe enough to cry. He knew that this was normal, that he needs to have time to cry and remorse, but he felt like he was being weak somehow.  
He got up and stood at his bedside desk. On top, he kept a few framed pictures. A few of him, a few of his friends, a few of his family... He grabbed one that showed a dazzlingly perfect young woman, her red hair pushed back with a teal headband, blue eyes bright with insight and intellect, and a white smile grinning at him on the other side of the glass of the frame. "Jazz..." he choked out, a few more tears threatening to be released. His fingers rested on the image as if to stroke the face. "I am so sorry... So, so sorry..."  
His apologies heard no response, the picture static, face just as happy with no voice to reply back with. Danny placed it back where it was and gave a small smile. He then turned and sat back on his bed, sighing and running a weary hand through his messy hair. No chance of sleep tonight...


End file.
